Petoskey planning commissioners support five-year capital plan

Petoskey planning commissioners gave their support Thursday to a five-year capital improvement plan, which identifies $21.7 million in potential infrastructure projects and purchases of physical resources which the city could pursue from 2012 through 2016.

In supporting the plan, commission members decided to request that city officials add some sidewalk enhancements to the list of projects for the coming years. The plan will next be considered for approval by the city council.

The plan provides direction to city officials for funding priorities, but does not appropriate dollars to allow them to move forward — a step that occurs through the city’s annual budgeting process. Projections, especially for the later years of the plan, can be adjusted as time goes on because of priority changes or funding constraints.

Some examples of the potential projects proposed for the coming years include:

— development of a linear park with a paved walkway along a rail corridor in and near the downtown area, with construction projected to start in 2014

— repaving of West Mitchell Street in conjunction with the Michigan Department of Transportation in 2013. This project is proposed to incorporate some access-management steps to improve on traffic flow and safety, with closure and reconfiguration of some intersections

—replacement of the city’s aging water tower along U.S. 131 South with a larger-capacity one in 2015

City staff have noted that projections for capital spending have been on the decline in recent years as the city’s property-tax revenues have tightened. In his introduction to the plan, city manager Dan Ralley noted that “the decrease in proposed spending is evidence of contracting funding sources, not declining infrastructure needs.”

City planner Amy Tweeten noted that staff also have concentrated more in the planning process on projects that have reasonable likelihood of available funding.

In other business, the planning commission briefly continued its discussion of “Neighborhood Enterprise Zones,” a type of program which could be used to offer property-tax incentives for rehabilitation and construction of residential housing. The program would focus on owner-occupied housing, although apartments could be included if one of the enterprise zones is established in a downtown area.

Michigan law would allow the city to create this type of zone in areas covering up to 15 percent of its total geographic territory. Rehabilitation incentives could be offered for properties with market values of no more than $80,000.

As an incentive for construction or rehabilitation of homes in the zones, the value on which certain types of property taxes are calculated would be held at a site’s value prior to the improvements being made.

With numerous properties that could benefit from rehabilitation located on and near the Emmet Street corridor, Tweeten suggested last month that this might be an area that could be appropriate to establish a zone. On Thursday, she noted that this part of town indeed has a substantial concentration of properties valued below $80,000.

Tweeten said she would try to arrange a visit by a Michigan Economic Development Corp. representative at a later date to review particulars of the program.

“When we have a person who can really answer the questions, then we will have a presentation at that time,” she said.

Creation of a Neighborhood Enterprise Zone ultimately would require action by the city council.

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Capital categories

By funding category, the $21.7 million in potential projects and purchases in Petoskey’s proposed 2012-16 capital improvements plan break down as follows: